Diet and Training

[tom]

DIET AND TRAINING by Madcow

Okay, I don't really care to delve deeply into diet issues generally. I find it pretty basic and uninteresting, plus - there's enough books and forums out there that you can easily get up to speed on the micro . I'm going to deal with one topic - caloric excess (the most important non-training topic for those looking to add muscle) and then provide a few quotes.

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First, a lot of BBers claim that diet is 95% of everything - that's some nice bull to spew when a guy is running the test levels of 20 men, has no performance criteria whatsoever to be judged by, and even a horrible training stimulus will still get him results. The bottom line is that for an experienced natural or someone who isn't living on large dosages of drugs, as long as your diet is "reasonable" you will get bigger and stronger only if the training is in line.

This is common sense blocking and tacking stuff. Eat a good balanced diet, get enough protein, vitamins, whatever, drink lots of water, and make sure you supply yourself with enough calories to grow. Combine that with a good training program and voila - you will get bigger and stronger.

I tell you that the main issue for most non-novice lifters is the training program. They don't know how to get stronger and increase their capacities in the core lifts after they crest the novice stage where they can't just go in and add weight each week. Stuff like the 3 day split, training bodyparts 1x per week, thinking that a routine is a list of exercises you will do and that it is enough to go in the gym and work hard - all this s people. Shattering these bull BBing myths and near total reliance on anabolics and illustrating proper periodization and dual factor style programs was the reason I put the Bill Starr 5x5 program on this site.

Of course there is one problem. The assumption of a "reasonable" diet and the key factor here is caloric excess. The key factor is not 6 meals a day, nor is it X grams of protein, nor is it weighing one's food and counting every last s of it while extracting yolks from egg whites like a baby salamander. It is caloric excess. If you don't have it, you can't grow. Contrary to por BBing mythos, it need not even be a clean diet. You can eat quite a bit of garbage and get big and strong (even staying reasonably lean for a lot of people) as long as there is caloric excess. If you choose to eat clean, more power to you but make sure in your extra effort that you get caloric excess or you won't be adding muscle.

Now some people start with a pretty big margin of bodyfat (approaching 20% or more), these people already have significant caloric excess built into their base diet. Most of them find that they can hold their calories constant and for a while they will add muscle and the maintenance of that muscle will use up the excess calories that are currently going toward maintaining their excess fat. This won't last forever but it will likely get them down to the mid to low teens without any issues. Everybody with lower bodyfat needs to add excess to their base diet.

Now this sounds like common sense but here is the kicker. There are a lot of people who really put a lot of effort into their diet and maintain fairly lean physiques. They carefully calculate and maintain a constant diet and precise level of caloric excess - nothing wrong with that. The only problem is that their calculations might not fully reflect their activity level or the requirements of their own individual body.

Keep in mind that they are already fairly lean so there is obviously little to no caloric excess in their base diets. Also understand that the lower your BF is, the less willing your body is to add muscle - very logically, muscle is calorically expensive and increases risk of death from famine, if fat stores are already low, it is very hard to convince the body to add muscle (the people with this genetic makeup died millions of years ago). This is also why people loose muscle when cutting (this is all based on natural lifters, steroids enhance certain abilities but don't erase restrictions completely).

So given that some of these people are already lean (no caloric excess) and run their diets based at the margin of a calculation, these people can go through a good training program, get strong as hell raising their capacities in all the lifts and not gain any weight. How is this possible? Very simple, no caloric excess. If you eat more than you need you will gain weight. If you are a couch potato, that weight might be all fat. A good training program will ensure that a large portion is muscle. Either way, if caloric excess is present - one will not be the same weight and body composition by the very definition of caloric excess.

This may sound like common sense but it snafu's tons of people, particularly BBers because many of them like to maintain lower levels of BF and spend a lot of time on their diet and eat right at the margin of a somewhat arbitrary calculation that works on the average but in reality needs to be tailored to their own requirements. In addition, many will make their diet squeaky clean and not realize that their volume of consumption has to increase drastically to get the same number of total calories - so they wind up putting themselves in caloric maintenance or worse, deficit.

In addition, as people gain muscle their base requirement increases and thus their diet must be adjusted to maintain the same caloric excess margin. I know it sounds easy but a lot of people eat the same diet at 195 as they did when they were working their way up from 180. They sit their with this nice lean body and wonder why they can't ever seem to break the 200 barrier because their training is good and they eat the same good healthy diet that got them all the way to 195.

Another good thing to remember is that you don't eat too much one day and wake up to find that you went from 8% to 20% BF overnight. A lot of people have a good feel for their base diet and just consume more when they want to gain. If they start getting too fat too quickly, they cut back appropriately. For the vast majority of people, they can likely monitor this without every doing heavy micromanagement while gaining muscle. If your goal is cutting and getting down much below 10%, well that takes work but adding muscle is pretty easy without micromanagement. But, if one wishes to quantify their diets and spend time on this then go right ahead, I just don't like to see people with pretty mundane and attainable goals think that this it's absolutely necessary if they want to add even an ounce of muscle.

I'm not ping on the desire to eat clean wholesome foods but it is not necessary for the purpose of adding muscle whereas caloric excess is. Eating clean is a separate goal from adding muscle, it's a lifestyle goal and takes work - kudos to those that do it because it makes the whole thing a bit harder and requires more planning. I'm not saying to eat total garbage but a reasonable diet is fine and to be honest more than a few people have found it necessary to add in more calorically dense foods (i.e. fried chicken etc...) when bulking simply because they can't consume the volume and get all the calories any other way (I'm not talking about your standard 150lbs kid here obviously).

Bottom lines:

1) Caloric excess is required
2) Your body will change if excess is present - fat/muscle/body composition
3) If over the period the body did not change - caloric excess was not present
4) If you add muscle, your base requirement will change and you will need to eat more to maintain excess

[cornelius parkin]

Wow thats really cutting edge info right there:rolleyes:
food is not 95% of every thing it is 100% of every thing!
with out food you can just forget about gains of any sort or staying alive for that matter:???:
no offence but this is just another anti-drugs and unscientific article which every body knows all ready but for some reason he can make him self look important by saying crap like this.
so if i eat twize per day kfc family bucket so i am in a calorie excess and train hard i will gain? WHAT EVER!
near total reliance on anabolics:rolleyes: good lord why doesnt he shoot down all the achievements of the pro body builders down!i suppose if we all piled in the gear we would all be IFBB pros!
The only info that people should listen to is the increasing calories as body weight goes up because this is correct and some people do forget that,the body is constantly adapting so one needs to stay in track with this.
Just my opinion on the article;)

[Doc D]

Cornelius, I see your point, but in defence of Madcow (whose multiple postings do not suggest that he is a blithering idiot), his suggestions have the merit of clarifying what too many kids overlook: if you want to get bigger (the goal of most of the high school US football-playing kids at whom this is aimed), you have to *eat*. Eating a clean, low-calorie precontest diet 'to stay lean while bulking' (how many online training logs do you see which refer to 'lean bulking'!?!) is a significant contributor to the failure of so many neophytes to capitalise on their training efforts (of course, the bodybuilding rags are complicit in this, as this failure encourages the kids to purchase the supplements on whose advertising revenue the rags depend!)

I know that I was brainwashed into this when I first started 'bodybuilding' (15 years ago - I'd already been lifting for 5 for athletics). 17-18 years old, 5'9", and weighing all of 67kg or so, at probably 8% bodyfat, I was eating half cans of tuna etc. to avoid gaining fat while bulking! You can imagine the progress I made! Then when I realised the truth, I gained 40kg in the next 2 years!

In conclusion - yes, it is a simplistic article, but reiterating the obvious has its merits!

[tod]

Cornelius, I see your point, but in defence of Madcow (whose multiple postings do not suggest that he is a blithering idiot)

or a cow for that matter!!!!

[barry mcgalie]

very useful article. thank you.

[Justin Hurley]

Some very valid points made in the article, points that are often overlooked.

I also agree with Cornelius with some of the points he made. Calorific excess is what you should aim for when gaining weight, but do it with quality calories, not empty ones from junk food, calories are not just calories, the human body deals with different foods in different ways. Eat your quality food and throw in the odd bit of junk to keep the calories high.

With a lot of articles, you have to sift through them and take out the good info and try and discard the authors own opinions.

[trapmanjoe]

awesome post, one of the best ive seen. i say this because i can relate. people ask me how i can weigh over 300 at 5'11'' and be muscular. they post you made is exactly why caloric excess. on a day im not active i can get away w/ alittle less, but when im active i take in more. i dont worry about protein intake as much, im more concerned w/ calories. i probably take in about 200 to 250 g protein a day and a shit load of carbs. 4000 to 5000 calories a day w/ medium metabolism. about 5 meals a day. tons of milk, thats the base of my diet. when i started lifting i was 16 at 255lbs chunky. now 20 315lbs muscular, of course w/ some fat and water weight but i packed on a lot of muscle under so my physique is totally alterd.

[cornelius parkin]

awesome post, one of the best ive seen. i say this because i can relate. people ask me how i can weigh over 300 at 5'11'' and be muscular. they post you made is exactly why caloric excess. on a day im not active i can get away w/ alittle less, but when im active i take in more. i dont worry about protein intake as much, im more concerned w/ calories. i probably take in about 200 to 250 g protein a day and a shit load of carbs. 4000 to 5000 calories a day w/ medium metabolism. about 5 meals a day. tons of milk, thats the base of my diet. when i started lifting i was 16 at 255lbs chunky. now 20 315lbs muscular, of course w/ some fat and water weight but i packed on a lot of muscle under so my physique is totally alterd.
i would love to see a picture of you bro:)
wow thats very little calories for a big guy like you:o

[Matt M]

You have to post a picture TMJ, you are a monster! :)

[cornelius parkin]

HERE IS AN ARTICLE I LIKE:-D
Bodybuilders are constantly in search of substances that will increase anabolism. We take our creatine, glutamine, pyruvate, and a host of other nutritional supplements in our quest for more muscle. Bodybuilders who choose to go the "enhanced" route are always searching for the anabolic drug that will take their physique to the next level. With all of the means at our disposal to increase muscular bodyweight, one simple fact often gets overlooked. Food is the most anabolic substance we can put in our bodies.

What separates pro-bodybuilders from the rest of us? I know that people like to engage in discussions about aesthetics, muscle maturity, and symmetry. However, it's painfully obvious that the primary difference is muscular size. It's amusing for me to hear competitors talk about how great their symmetry is despite the fact that they don't have enough muscle to win a local qualifier. Muscular size is the primary indicator of success in bodybuilding competition. With regular certainty, the largest man on stage wins the show.

Over the past several years, there has been a push inside the supplement industry towards low-calories mass building. We've seen "lean-mass" products appear on the market, with all of the major supplements companies like Met-RX and EAS advocating their MRP's as a way to add lean tissue without gaining additional fat. It is no longer en vogue to bulk-up in the off-season, the industry line that is touted in the magazines these days is that athletes rarely stray too far from their contest bodyweights. With the advent of these new nutritional technologies, it is now possible to be both massively muscled and lean at all times. Horseshit!!!

The truth is that the pictures seen in the various bodybuilding publications are all taken immediately before or after contests. It is not uncommon to see a bodybuilder put on 20+ lbs the day after a contest! Most bodybuilding aficionados don't have the slightest idea of what these athletes look like 95% of the year. It's mistakenly assumed that these guys always look fairly lean and chiseled. Nothing could be further from the truth.

By attempting to stay lean year-round, you are sabotaging your goals to become as muscular as humanly possible. Athletes who constantly chase more muscle while worrying about body fat levels will never gain the muscle they need to achieve their goals. Let's consider this question: Which is harder to build, fat or muscle? Obviously, muscle. Next question. Which is easier to lose, fat or muscle? For those of you that said muscle, sorry, wrong answer, thanks for playing. Once muscle is built it's a fairly easy proposition to maintain it while dieting off body fat.

I honestly can't fault anyone for following these "lean mass" programs. Being bloated and fat in the off-season isn't any fun. If any of you have had the chance to see Lee Priest in the off-season, you'll know what I mean. The man is nearly unrecognizable from the contest and ad pictures we constantly see in the various publications. Lee doesn't get just a little heavy, he gets fat. It don't think he would be offended if I say he looks like a lop of shit. However, when the fat comes off, and it surely does every year, Lee's physique is amazing. If you talk to Lee, and ask him what his secret to success is, he'll tell you. It's food.

So, why all the secrecy and smoke and mirrors surrounding the nutritional profiles of these athletes? One simple reason. Money. Money from endorsements, contracts, and ad work. Say I'm an up and coming national level bodybuilder. I'm eating over 7,000 calories a day. In order to do this, I'm consuming a lot of fatty foods, hell, I'm eating McDonalds and ice cream as much as possible. Why? Because I cannot physically consume that level of caloric intake in clean, low-fat foods. It cannot be done. However, do the supplement companies want their customers to know this? Of course not. Look, it's an accepted premise that all national and professional level bodybuilders take steroids, right? However, it's something that's never discussed in the supplement industry, and bodybuilders get paid to endorse products. So, they lie. My success is based largely on the fact that I use XYZ Protein. I was able to compete 20 lb heavier at this year's Mr. O because I was taking Sportgear prohormones. Whatever. My point isn't that nutritional supplements don't have their place, they certainly do. My point is that professional bodybuilders are used because there is a large segment of the population that would like to emulate that look. If they can be made to believe that look is obtained through clean eating and sports supplements, who's hurt, right?

I've seen so many genetically gifted bodybuilders fail in the quest to achieve greatness. 9 times out of 10 the culprit is nutrition. Specifically, the problem is not consuming enough calories. I can't tell you how many times I've had an athlete come to me who has hit a plateau. I modify their nutrition slightly and they are growing again. People, you are not going to achieve brutal muscle size on 3,500 kcal a day!! I don't care what anyone else tells you, I've seen it fail and I know it doesn't work. All successful national and professional level bodybuilders eat all day long. In the off-season their only concern is getting those meals in and eating enough protein. Anyone can train intensely given the right circumstances and knowledge. Any fool can jab themselves with steroids. However, there are very few people in the sport of bodybuilding that are consistently able, day in and day out, to eat their 6-8 meals a day and consume enough calories to reach anabolic extreme.

What are your goals as a bodybuilder? Is it your goal to have an aesthetically pleasing physique, staying relatively lean year round? Or is it to carry as much muscle as your genetic potential will allow? One goal is not nobler than the other, but they certainly require different strategies. While it is possible to stay relatively lean year round once a desired level of muscle has been achieved, it is not possible to do this while trying to gain the muscle initially. Unless extraordinary circumstances are present, muscle cannot be added and fat lost at the same time!! The conditions necessary for this to happen are so rare and require so many drugs that it's not worthy of discussion in this article. Muscle is gained by eating over and above what is required for maintenance. Fat is lost by eating less than what is required for maintenance. It's virtually impossible to gain muscle without adding some concomitant fat, conversely, it's almost impossible to lose fat without losing concomitant muscle tissue. These are the irrefutable facts.

We see a lot of huge professional bodybuilders in the off-season that would not be characterized as "fat" in the normal sense of the word. They are fat only by bodybuilding standards. As I'm writing this, it's Wednesday, November 17, 1999. Last Saturday I was lucky enough to see Ronnie Coleman in Sacramento, CA. Ronnie competes close to 260 lbs at a height of about 5'10". When I saw him, he was weighing in at about 305 lb still appearing to be fairly lean, just weeks after his wins at some major European shows. The whole time I was at this event, Ronnie was eating. Burgers, fries, you name it, he ate it. In a few months, he should well over 320, eating everything in site in his attempt to add more muscle. This is 60+ lb over his competition bodyweight. It's also what is necessary to continue to grow.

Dorian is one of the people responsible for the new era of freakiness seen in bodybuilding today. I was fortunate enough to see Dorian a few times in the off-season during his competitive heyday. I was able to sit and have lunch with Dorian through a friend of mine immediately after he announced his retirement from competition. Among the myriad of subjects that were discussed, off-season nutrition certainly was one of the most interesting. Does anyone remember the 1995 Night of Champions when Dorian guest-posed at roughly 300 lbs? That was nearly unheard of at the time. Many said that he was too fat and out of shape and that would never come be able to come down for the O. Not only did Dorian lose the weight, he crushed his competition. Dorian's philosophy was that his off-season appearance was inconsequential. What mattered was what he looked like when he stepped on stage. During the off-season, his nutrition centered around two simple factors: total caloric intake and total protein intake. Nothing else mattered.

The Role of Drugs in Diet
Before we continue on, I'd like to make it clear that the nutritional strategies that are discussed in this article are not designed with the health of the athlete in mind. Additionally, the plan we will outline will be of benefit only to bodybuilders using significant amounts of growth promoting drugs, specifically heavy androgens. In a future issue of Anabolic Extreme, we will examine the various high-fat, low-carb diets, which I feel are particularly effective for natural athletes. Please bear in mind that any numbers or figures discussed in this article would apply only to bodybuilders that are fairly advanced and using a significant amount of steroid. Nutritional strategies would vary for beginners or natural athletes. I can always be contacted via the site and try and answer as many emails as possible. I'm also available for consultations and on-line training.

Obviously, something is going on here that is allowing these guys to consume an enormous amount of calories and not have it go straight to their ass and gut. If a natural athlete were to eat in this fashion, he'd soon be getting a visit from a sobbing Richard Simmons. The drugs these athletes take not only have an anabolic effect, but have some effect on adipose tissue as well. So, out of the myriad of drugs these athletes use, which are responsible for keeping for them both large and lean (relatively!) at the same time?

Hopefully everyone is aware of the amazing effect HGH has on reducing body fat. This is one of the few real world effects of growth that has been proven through scientific research. Its effects on lean body mass, at least according to all of the studies I've read, are less than impressive. This isn't what I've witnessed with my own eyes, but I don't even want to open up that can of worms here! However, all of the studies on growth show that it burns fat, with some subjects losing as much as 15% of their fat tissue.

Testosterone has a proven effect on lipolysis (fat release) in adipose tissue. To my knowledge, there has never been a study done using young, healthy males and large doses of testosterone to determine its effects on body composition. For the most part, studies done on growth hormone and testosterone are performed on aging populations and geriatrics, or severely ill individuals suffering from wasting conditions. However, there have been a few studies on younger males using very low doses of testosterone that have clearly demonstrated its effectiveness at reducing body fat.

Meal Planning, Frequency, and Consistency
We've all heard we should eat 4-6 meals a day. I try and have most of my clients shoot for 6-8 meals a day. Why? Well, let's say your caloric intake on any given day needs to be 7500 kcals per day. If you consume this over three meals, each meal will contain approximately 2500 kcal. Realistically, your body is not going to be able to digest this many calories and much of the nutrient value of the food is lost. By spreading these meals over 7 sittings, you're able to effectively digest the food and maximize the benefits of eating at this level. Additionally, your metabolism is going to speed up since every time you consume food, your body has to expend energy to digest it.

Eating more frequent smaller meals has been proven to have positive effects on cholesterol and body fat levels. Now, I'm not telling you that eating 7,500 kcals is unhealthy when consumed in three meals but healthy when spread out over seven. Eating calories at that level is unhealthy, PERIOD!! However, bodybuilding is about achieving a certain cosmetic effect, and the extremes of bodybuilding are only reached through extreme measures. If this frightens you, you need to reevaluate your goals. Again, we are discussing what it takes to succeed in the upper echelons of the sport.

When it becomes necessary to consume calories at this level, life becomes a constant stream of eating, cooking, cleaning, and eating again. Most pro bodybuilders don't have a job outside the sport, the daily regimen that's required to be successful precludes outside work. Meals should be consumed every 2-3 hours with clockwork precision. This ensures a constant supply of nutrients and protein in the bloodstream. Obviously it's nearly impossible to consume 6-8 solid food meals a day, most athletes will take 3-4 or their meals in liquid form. Since these liquid meals are more easily digested than whole foods, it allows the bodybuilder a respite if 7-8 meals are required to get the necessary caloric intake.

So, how many calories are necessary for growth? Every athlete has a different caloric need, based on a variety of factors. At the elite level, athletes have been known to consume 25-30 kcal per lb of bodyweight per day. What's important to understand is that the level of caloric consumption should be based on the weight you are striving for, not your current weight. Let's take Joe Bodybuilder. Joe weighs 260 lbs at 6' and has been lifting seriously for several years now. His friends keep telling him to compete at the State level so he's decided to get up to 300 lbs and diet back. However, no matter how hard he tries, he can't add any more muscle. The problem probably lies with Joe's nutrition program. Since he wants to weigh 300 lbs, he might have to eat somewhere in the range of 8,000-9,000 kcal per day to achieve that weight. Most bodybuilders are unable to do this.

If Joe does have the willpower to do this, what should he eat? I've known many elite bodybuilders that eat whatever they want in the off season. Certainly they focus on protein consumption, but after that, everything is fair game. It is possible to eat in a fashion that is conducive to both fat loss and muscular gain but that requires constant monitoring of the athlete and is beyond the scope of this article.

The bodybuilding media has perpetrated the myth that we should be in shape all year long. Realistically, this is ultimately a recipe for disaster in your quest to add muscular size. Staying lean year round is the domain of male models and endurance athletes. If you're serious about packing on as much muscle as possible, go buy that baggy T-shirt and start loading up on the groceries. When you diet off that extra flab, you'll find that you've taken your physique to a whole new level.


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[cornelius parkin]

PART 2(now remember this is not a scientific article rather it is just an eye open to what really goes on,for those off you who wernt aware:rolleyes: )
Do you know what I consider the hardest thing in bodybuilding? Oh yeah, the training and dedication is hard — but to continually pound down 6 meals a day on a continual basis is the utmost of chores and dedication. I don’t miss meals. Ahh, that’s too easy — I don’t miss meals to the best of my ability…OK.

So this is where you have to ask yourself—what are my ultimate goals and what is the happiest way I can get there? Do I want to stay extremely lean and maybe compromise some muscle gains? If I bulk up, will the negative people who wait at every chance to say “Getting kind of fat” affect me? Will society keep me from what I truly want to accomplish? See, I admire Dorian and Nasser because they are driven. You will never see those two with a tucked in dress shirt an in the off-season. They are bulked up. Chubby if you like. But they know what kind of muscle they want to put on and don’t give a shit what anyone else says on the way there. Dorian caught a lot of flak on how he looked at the Night of Champions at roughly 300LBS. So what? Did you see what he looked like at the 95 Olympia? DOMINATED is the word.

Segway: I personally think Parillo got a bad rap. I don’t agree with his basic what to eat theories — but I do think he has some ideas that could be put to use. Let’s start this first — I don’t care what crap you read that bodybuilders only need 1.3 grams of protein per kilogram. Bullshit! Look at some of the recent studies that pertain to bodybuilders that lift very heavy and very intense. Not fitness bodyshapers . . .0K! Four grams per kilogram of bodyweight is a good goal to shoot for. Actually shoot for the protein content of the bodyweight you want to weigh.. i.e. 260LBS = 354 to 472 grams of protein a day. 300LBS = 409 to 545 grams a day. Second of all you are going to have to decide which way you are going to go(a) moderate/high carbs and varying fats or (B) high fat and low carb diet — Duchaine’s and Dipasquale’s diet. The big problem everyone has with the high carb diet is that with the high carbs comes an onset of high insulin which will—yes tend to put fat on the body (lipogenesis). But that is not all bad because insulin also pushes nutrients (amino acids) into the muscle cells and there is nothing wrong with that. But when these nutrient stores are filled, this is where a lot of bodyfat is laid down on the body. So it is a catch 22 situation. The extra bodyfat could probably give you a little extra leverage in some movements. But this is not what I think most diet experts are looking at. They look at insulin from a leanness perspective instead of its benefits of pushing nutrients into the muscle cells.

The problem with the higher carb bulking diets is that you can get very groggy and sleepy especially after a very high carb meal. It comes from an onrush of insulin and the release of a chemical in the brain — serotonin (especially when nutrient/carb stores in the muscle are saturated already). So there are good points and bad points to high protein — moderate to high cart diets.

People with superb metabolisms can benefit greatly from them in the way of superb muscle gains if they can put up with the groggy episodes that will affect them from time to time. Others who decide to go this route with lesser metabolisms either put up with the extra bodyfat and realize that when the tines comes they will take it off or perform aerobic work to keep their bodyfat levels in check. But you must realize that yes, the aerobics will let you have a high density/high nutrient/calorie diet but it also is an additional form of stress on the body that can catabolize muscle if overdone. This is where I thought Parillo had some nice ideas as far as aerobics done only for l/2 an hour at a time morning and night. I would also think that on training days only the morning session (if that) would have to be done. Better yet, my opinion would be only do the aerobics on off training days if you feel you have to do them. To be totally honest, people who take steroids are probably not going to have to do much aerobically because anabolics have a slight thermogenic effect and also they will be in such a superior muscle building situation that most gains (initially at least— not long term) will be in the way of muscle, not bodyfat. With receptor sites saturated and slower muscle gains, body fat will accumulate, many add clenbuterol to bulking diets to keep bodyfat at a minimum. Phenformin, Metformin and Vanadyl Sulfate work extremely well for most people on high carb diets. They mimic insulin in a way — driving glycogen into the muscles. In theory this should make you fuller looking and have less glucose left over to be transformed into triglycerides — stored bodyfat. A word to the wise — Metformin and Phenformin are very strong drugs so use them with caution. If you are not insulin deficient to some degree I would stick to the Vanadyl Sulfate. You know everyone and his mother argues how high calorie diets don’t work and their big point is the bodyfat. But I have yet to see someone disprove that it is the fastest way to put on muscle! Yes it puts on body fat, but there are ways to control that pretty much aerobically if someone is really serious about putting on the size. I look at someone like Michael O’Hearn (Natural USA champ) who has to stay fairly lean now because of work, but was a serious powerlifter and has been up to 285 LBS or so. That’s about 60 LBS over his bodybuilding contest weight.

There are a lot of excesses in this sport and I personally believe that the body is an incredibly adaptive machine — and if there is a tremendous demand (brutal heavy workouts), the body will not just store every single excess calorie as bodyfat, but will slowly adapt itself into a greater and greater musculature. Before you debunk this, think back through history of how man has adapted and evolved. The command (heavy weights) has to be there, no doubt. Think about the Sumo study that we talked about in issue six. The Sumo wrestlers had greater lean body mass than the bodybuilders. How? They hardly weight train. But their caloric intake is a lot higher. What would happen if the Sumos both weight trained and kept their bodyfat in check with daily morning and night aerobics? You tell me! The only difference in that equation was food intake.

I am not saying that the nutrient density low calorie diets don’t work, not at all! They work— they are great at keeping off excess bodyfat and slowly building muscle at the same time. I think they are great for the businessman/fitness person. But for an extremely Hardcore bodybuilder trying to build up mass to intimidating proportions, I really think you have to goad your body into believing it has to adapt to a bigger musculature. 2,700 calories tells it to stay midsize. 6,000 - 10,000 calories tells it something else — and in my opinion that something is get much bigger by storing bodyfat and a bigger musculature. Yes, the musculature is a slow adaptation and the bodyfat a fast one, but I feel the muscle adaptation is far greater than it is from the low calorie diets. And we have talked about how to keep the control of bodyfat with aerobics. I didn’t say it was easy or simple. But if your body won’t gain bodytat at 2,000 calories a day, why the hell do you think it will gain any muscle — which is so much harder to do!
I’ve mentioned the high protein/moderate to high carb diet. I’m going to skip Parillo’s because I don’t personally agree with all his dieting theories (Sorry John). But the other high calorie diet that I think is very worthy of mentioning is the high fat diet that both Dipausquale and Duchaine have worked on. Dipausquale has been kind ot vague with his theories somewhat on this diet, but I do believe Dan is going to be much more precise with his. He told us that. Both bulking diets I’ve talked about recommend red meat as a main cog in the diet. I agree totally. The creatine and amino acid pool in red meat is very beneficial. The high fat diet goes something like this— 5 days high fat (Monday thru Friday) /carbs kept under 30 grams a day each of those days / roughly 55-60% fat, 30-55% protein and 5-8% carbs. On the weekend there is a 2 day carb load where the breakdown is 30-40% fat. 10-15% protein, 45-60% carbs. So during the week, samples of food you can eat are — steak, sausage, bacon, ham, eggs, pork, chicken, lamb, veal, kielbasa, (no-carb) protein drinks, etc. - -

During the weekend pretty much anything goes and you can carb up to your hearts content. I know what some of you are thinking or have been programmed to think! That this diet is dangerous because fats are dangerous. Not altogether true!

The principles and theories behind this diet are extremely sound. Without the chronically elevated insulin levels of the high carb diet comes less stored bodyfat. OK, here it is laid out. You carb up over the weekend. and your body uses the stored glycogen in the muscle for energy during Monday and Tuesday (varying), and then switches over to using tree fatty acids and bodyfat as energy when the glycogen stores are gone. The free fatty acids are broken down from the high fat diet and triglycerides (stored bodyfat)are broken down to free fatty acids and then to ketones—an energy source. In a sense, stored body fat acts as glycogen and the free fatty acids act as glucose. Lowering the calories uses more body fat as energy. To gain mass, a higher calorie intake is taken in. This diet looks to be right up the natural bodybuilder’s alley. And I urge you to either try Dipausquales book or Duchaine’s book when it comes available. There is too much info to summarize Dipausquale’s book here- It is called the Anabolic Diet — 50 bucks or so. Some of Hardcore Muscle’s readers have been giving me feedback on the high fat diet and most of them that stuck to it — think it is a godsend! If your body doesn’t metabolize carbs very well and you have been stuck for a couple years with minimum gains — give this a try will you??!!

There is only one problem I have with the high fat diet. I wonder with only manipulating insulin on the weekends, if there is any loss of benefit during the week of not having insulin driving amino acids into the muscle cells. Something tells me Dan Duchaine, being the problem solver that he is — will have some sort of solution to this in his diet. Basically my opinion is this — you have 30 grams of carbohydrate to play with during the week days. Obviously the best way to utilize them would be to do so on training days right after a workout where your body would be most insulin receptive. Half a cup of grape juice (the rest water) in a no carb protein drink (would have only 17 grams of carbs) could probably do some good and still give you 13 grams of carbs to play with the rest of the day.

I’m not so sure that some sort of insulin spike (in an after workout scenario on the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday — high fat / no carb days) would prove to be harmful. Im talking about only on workout days, of those 3 days. Something in an allowance over the 30 grams consisting of Dans prior recommendation of juice and ion exchange whey powder. A whopping dose of it! But that would bring you over 30 grams at carbs. On the high fat diet, you would definitely have to supplement multivitamins to ward off any chance of deficiencies anywhere. In theory, if you kept strict on this diet — it would be less likely to acquire an abundance of bodyfat even when bulking. But as in the other high calorie diet — you might have to include some aerobics if the bodyfat levels start getting over the level you have set to yourself. The downside to this diet is it can get very monotonous eating the same meats day after day. That is why you have to make a concerted effort to change things up. Chicken wings, scrambled, poached, boiled, eggs, steak, rnarinated with different marinades, pork chops, etc. Remember condiments and marinades have a lot of hidden carbs. People who are very sinewy, very muscular and have trouble putting on muscle could take their choice of these two diets and benefit from either one of them. African Americans and some taller whiles are usually in that group. Others would most likely have to keep a check on the bodyfat with very slight aerobics. Some lead a very active life style (work, play) and can keep that extra fat off. Endomorphs will really have to work hard with aerobics because they will really push the fat levels up. That is your genetic blueprint, I’m sorry.

In this sport, both you and I know people who train hard and heavy. There are so many bodybuilders out there now it’s incredible. Go to your gym and count the people who lift hard. Now go thru all those people and think how many have gotten continually bigger over the years (including yourself). How many plateaus do you see? Most of those people are eating 2300-3000 calories a day. Are you one of those people who blindly thinks he is growing but then 10 years later looks back and realizes that thru all those years and all those workouts (the time put in) that you really are exactly the same??!! What a waste. Don’t take no for an answer. The body is an adaptive machine. Force that mother to adapt. Strength is size. To be a 250LB bodybuilder you are going to have to eat like one and train like one. A 250 LB bodybuilder who wants to be a 280 LB bodybuilder will not get there if he eats 2500 calories. He has to eat his way up to 28O LBS. Muscle is a hard to come by commodity. To get fat is pretty easy. You know how to control that fat — it will range from no aerobics to 1/2 hour aerobics, morning and night 6 times a week. In 4 years from now do you want 4 more pounds of muscle or 30-45 LBS more muscle. I’m a bodyBUILDER, the choice is easy for me. I hope you reread this article and really look at the examples and comparisons I cited. It comes down to what makes you happy. In my eyes at least, a hardcore bodybuilders main emphasis is on muscle (hard work, strength, and dedication) and a secondary emphasis on body fat. Some people will put an emphasis on bodyfat and a secondary emphasis on muscle. If you take genetics and drugs out of the equation, how would you — the trainer — answer the following question?

“Im 180 LBS and I want to be 280 LBS. I want to gain muscular size at the quickest, fastest rate possible all the while keeping my bodyfat at a satisfactory level. There is a million dollars in it for you it you can do it in 6 years or less.” What would you have to have him do to get him there??!! ME? — This guy would never miss a meal, get to know a treadmill on a regular basis, and be a rest pausing maniac. And I would have a million in 5 years. not six!

[trapmanjoe]

cornelius what do you think would be the best diet for a powerlifter whos only goal is strength? doesnt care about physical appearence, only strength.
i ask you because you seem to know alot about diet.

[bulldog]

sitting around a dinnertable in finland donnie thompson andy bolton marc barcley me and 2 big fins and the common denominater besides 600 g of protein a day was chocolate and more chocolate

[trapmanjoe]

that sounds like my kind of eating:-D

[cornelius parkin]

well i would say eat 6-8meals 2 grams of protien per pound of body weight focusing on red meats,4 grams of carbs per pound of body weight mainly coming from slow absorbing carbs like brown rice and finally tons of good fats such as olive oil.
as fun and delicious as bulldogs choc diet sounds:) i cant see the choc helping in any way with power increase unless you would be in a calorie deficiet with out eating choc,just because you dont care how you look doesnt mean you should go and eat tons of shit...you can of course but will it give you extra gains no if any thing it will slow them down because it will fill you up,eating 8 large whole food meals is a huge job even for the hungriest eater!

[trapmanjoe]

i agree ive always try to eat like a bb in the off season but train powerlifting style. but i do cheat more than a bb.;)